Service level management definition -- reducing the shotgun approach

Up to this point, most product vendors have not been in an optimal position to effectively advise users on how to best proceed. The product vendor's experience is relatively limited due to the newness of the products. Empirical Software, a vendor based in Wellesley, Mass., recently stepped forward with a potential solution to this problem. Empirical Software is offering users what this author believes is the first SLA methodology support that is part of a larger product set.

The overall product set is called Empirical Suite. This suite includes three products: Empirical Planner, Empirical Director and Empirical Controller. Empirical Planner provides organizations with a formalized process supported in the software that helps both central and business unit IT departments plan, measure, predict and improve the service levels of key business-critical applications. Empirical Planner provides support staffs with the advice, methods and tools they need to implement service reporting, problem diagnosis and SLA negotiations. Step-by-step instructions for measuring service level baselines, defining SLAs and planning for ongoing compliance enable IT groups to implement a formal approach to service level planning where none existed before.

Empirical Director takes over once SLAs are defined and SLM can begin. Empirical Director provides both SLA measurements and recommendations that are needed to resolve problems, and predict potential noncompliance conditions. Given the fact that no one product can go it alone, Empirical Director also supports command linkages to both BMC Patrol and Tivoli TME 10. In addition, the product distributes notifications and recommended courses of action via e-mail or through the Tivoli TME frameworks as SLA violations occur.

The third member of the product set, Empirical Controller, complements the functionality of the other two products by supporting the tuning of application SQL that may be required when users employ the in-depth user activity analysis supported by the product. Empirical claims that this process can improve application performance as much as 70%. However, as a general rule of thumb all vendor claims need to be carefully verified and evaluated.

While it is not reasonable to expect or claim that one product by itself can constitute the sole answer to the many issues related to SLM, Empirical has opted to address one very valid issue -- the lack of formal SLM planning processes and the instrumentation to support them. Therefore, this should be regarded as a positive step forward.